President Thaçi: The Week of Women is a noble initiative, women can contribute more for the country

Prishtina, March 20, 2017 - The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, participated today in the opening ceremony of the Women’s Week in Kosovo 2017, which is organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) with the support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

President Thaçi said that this organization of the Women’s Week is a tipping point in the calendar of policymaking in the field of gender equality and the representation of women in the Kosovar political scene.

“The Week of Women is a noble and appropriate initiative, because this event unites representatives from all political parties, from the society and the business sector, and is already known as a platform where the participants overcome party affiliation, ethnic affiliation or political beliefs and are jointly engaged to address issues of interest for the society and the state of Kosovo”, said President Thaçi.

President Thaçi stressed that the topics covered this week are of essential importance to push forward the progress of gender representation and gender equality, starting from budget allocation which responsibly reflects gender equality and the development of programs to support women entrepreneurs, up to the judicial reforms which punish boaster criminals attacking the woman whether be it in the family, and also at work.

In the spirit of a social-wide discussion, President Thaçi has also offered some discussion points which may be of interest in this forum, but also in the other activities of the Women’s Week.

Talking about the electoral reform and the organization of elections, President Thaçi said that he cannot close his eyes to the fact that within the lists there are large allegations for impacts and manipulations, where the biggest victims are precisely women.

“Only one female President is insufficient and only 30 percent of mandatory seats are insufficient, because the potential of the Kosovar women is much greater”, he said.

The President also spoke about the participation of women in the security sector and about the transformation of the KSF into the Army of Kosovo.

“Here, as well, I think that the voice of women is necessary. The security sector is not complete without including the voice of the woman. The mothers of Kosovo are those requiring safety for their sons, and the Kosovar mothers and women, regardless of ethnicity, are those which must be contributing to the architecture of security”, said President Thaçi.

Likewise, President Thaçi has said that the participation of women in the labor market is still unacceptably low.

“Many of them cannot find jobs, whereas a large part are also under unacceptable pressure to focus on housework by their family and circle”, said President Thaçi.

President Thaçi thanked USAID and the US Embassy for the great assistance given for the employment of women, but said that the politics of Kosovo must do more in this field.

“I call upon women MPs to be insistent that the laws and fiscal and economic reforms to have gender budgeting as an obligation”, added President Thaçi.

Women’s Week is an annual event which started as a pilot project in 2012 by the NDI with the support of USAID. It is a national event which assembles over 100 women representing different ethnic groups, political parties, civil society, business and the media.

At the opening of the Week of Women also present were the Director of NDI in Kosovo, Alexander Chavarria, the Deputy President of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Shari Bryan, the Ambassador of the United States of America, Greg Delawie, former President Atifete Jahjaga, the Minister of Justice, Dhurata Hoxha - Sadiku, etc.